Twinkle Toes

As I previously mentioned, BF de Luxe (who may be referred to as the following: "D", Spartacus, 300, BFDL, etc.) and I were going to cook dinner together tonight...but while I was twirling my Tutu around ballet class, he graciously decided to start prepping. Sweet deal for many reasons:

1. My hands didn't have to get dirty with raw chicken

2. I didn't cry (and stink) while chopping onions

and most importantly

3. Early prepping = Filling my belly faster.

So when I got to D's house, this is what I saw:

2 different kinds of onions (some for grilling & some for the bruchetta), 2 different kinds of chicken, and 2 different kinds of shrimp. Have you figured out what's cookin' yet?? You'll see!!

Next on the To-Do: slice the peppers

Spartacus didn't want to show his handsome face off on the blog yet...so the hands will do for now.

Once in a large bowl, add a good amount of quality olive oil, some balsamic vinegar, and enough salt to season. (I'm not including exact measurements in this post for a couple reasons. First, because I didn't do the prep work. And secondly, because in cooking there really is no exact measurement. Every person has their own preferences and nutritional requirements. I'm not a dietician or anything but I do believe that you when you eat whole, healthy foods, you don't need to measure.)

NEXT...begin skewering!!

"We" repeated this process until all the chicken & shrimp were on skewers. Keeping them separate is a good idea because the shrimp only take about 6-7 minutes to cook, whereas the chicken takes a bit longer. Raw chicken = Bad...unless you enjoy spending the night in your bathroom.

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What we used: Chicken breasts & Frozen shrimp (thawed)

1/2 of the shrimp & 1/2 the chicken were marinaded using good olive oil, Juice of 1/2 a lemon, salt and dried oregano.

The remaining shrimp & chicken were marinaded using olive oil, a dash of salt, orgeno and a dash of red pepper flakes for a kick.

While BF was outside sweating over the grill, I stayed comfy cozy indoors & got started on the bruschetta. Someone has to do it!!

Step 1- slice up your favorite loaf of bread & drizzle with yummy olive oil. I used this bread from Costco. It's perfectly crunchy on the outside & fluffy on the inside.

Step 2- Bake the bread for 5 minutes in a 375 degree oven.
Step 3- In the meantime, dice up your favorite tomatoes. This would be a great opportunity to get some heirlooms from your farmer's market. You'll also need some good feta cheese for this bruschetta. I prefer the box of Dodonis which contains liquid. This keeps the feta from drying out. Crumble the feta & combine with the tomatoes in a bowl. Add in a drizzle of olive oil, salt, pepper, and a few sprinkles of oregano. (My hands were so sloppy at this point I forgot to take a pic of the bowl. Sorry!)

Step 4: Remove sliced bread from the oven & heavily top each one with the tomato/feta mixture. You can pile these as high as you'd like but REMEMBER that you & your dinner guests have to fit it in your mouths...or you could be like me and dump it all over your dress. That's cute, too.

Final Step- Put back into the 375 oven for another 4-5 minutes.

VOILA

A perfectly grilled dinner (cooked by a cuteypatooty guy) + a cool, sweet glass of Canyon Oaks moscato = one VERY happy Ballerina.

Thanks, D...you can invite me over for dinner any day!